page_title: Monument of Gratitude to France
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Monument of Gratitude to France / Description
caption_attribution_description: Српски / srpski: Споменик захвалности Француској на Калемегдану. This is a photo of Cultural Heritage site of Serbia number СК 41
context_page_description: Monument of Gratitude to France in Belgrade’s Veliki Kalemegdan Park was formally unveiled on 11 November 1930, the 12th anniversary day of the end of the First World War, in the presence of King Alexander and Queen Maria, the royal government, the delegation of the French government, Serbian war veterans, distinguished citizens, associations, schools, and a large crowd of people.
  It was noted as one of the first "public monuments on one national territory, where the perception of another is shown in positive light". It was declared a cultural monument in 1965, and a cultural monument of great significance in 1983.
context_section_description: The design of the monument was entrusted to the world renowned Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović, who made a model in his Zagreb studio (MeštrovićGallery). The sculpture was cast in fourteen pieces at the Art Foundry of the Academy of Fine Arts using the lost wax technique. The pieces were joined to form two halves of the vertically divided sculpture, transported to Belgrade and assembled together on the site. The monumental figure, over 4 m (13 ft) high, represents France rushing to Serbia's aid. The expressive movement of the allegorical female figure, an important motif in Meštrović's sculptural work, evokes and glorifies the national spirit of France, suggesting energy, leadership, courage and faith. Monumentality, typical of Meštrović's sculptural expression, is emphasized by mounting the massive form of the central female figure on a seven-metre-high pedestal made of blocks of Brač “marble” (in fact, grey Adriatic limestone turning white with time). The pyramidal structure of its geometric mass sets the rhythm of gradual increase in emphasis towards the central scene and ensures stylistic unity between the monument and the surrounding ground laid out in the geometric pattern of the French garden. By virtue of being located at the far end of the main alley that extends beyond the park borders and into the city's main street (Knez Mihailova), the monument becomes a significant visual landmark.
  Engraved on its front are the year of erection and the dedication “A la France”, and on the back, the inscription “We love France as she loved us 1914–1918”. The sides of the base of the pedestal feature narrative compositions in low relief at the eye level of the viewer. The reliefs were executed after Meštrović's drawings by the sculptors Frano Kršinić, who oversaw the work, and Antun Augustinčić, as well as Grga Antunac, Šime Dujmić and Orlandini. Without encroaching into the surrounding space, the reliefs form an organic part of the pedestal, with the carved sections fitted with precision, while leaving the joints visible in the spirit of Egyptian monumentalized relief. The repetitive row of figures in the scene known as Warriors on the left side follows the principle of isocephaly on the model of the bas-relief depicting Assyrian archers, a motif Meštrović elaborated in relief and lithography. It evokes the bond forged by Serbian and French soldiers on the Salonika Front. On the opposite side, the more softly modelled allegory of the Sorbonne alludes to the French educational aid extended to Serbian youths during and after the war. The original sketch for this relief, depicting France as a woman breastfeeding Serbian children (now kept at Meštrović Gallery), was altered at the suggestion of the Director of the French Institute in Zagreb (Raymond Warnier).
  After the revolution and the overthrow of the monarchy, the female figure of Marianne, national symbol of the triumph of French republicanism, found expression in many works of art: she is shown as a leader singing the Marseillaise in Francois Rude's Departure of Volunteers on the Triumphal Arch in Paris; in Eugène Delacroix's famous painting Liberty Leading the People; or as the great mother feeding her children in Daumier's study Republic from the Musée d’Orsay. These and similar allegorical depictions of France as a determined female figure with the characteristic Phrygian bonnet are clear historical references of relevance for Meštrović's conception of the monument in Kalemegdan.
  The manner of formal stylization and the force of movement bring the figure close to the Sezession style. The logic of its vigorous forward motion, which can be traced back to late Hellenistic sculpture, is based on placing the entire weight of the figure on the left foot and establishing static equilibrium between dominant planes: between twisted masses of the upper body with the jutting right shoulder and the long taut arc of the right leg, and the cumulative mass of the drapery and left arm. The arrangement of the main planes and the lateral location of reliefs shift the beholder's viewpoin
caption: Great Kalemegdan
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